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surface wave

SEE SYNONYMS FOR surface wave ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Geology.

a seismic wave that travels along or parallel to the earth's surface (distinguished from body wave).

Content related to surface wave

Why Are We Calling Everything A “Wave”?Why have so many waves found their way into our cultural lexicon in recent years? In this article, the first in the column Mincing Metaphors, we unpack this oceanic metaphor to better understand what it means and why it’s proving so useful right now.
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Why Are We Calling Everything A “Wave”?Why have so many waves found their way into our cultural lexicon in recent years? In this article, the first in the column Mincing Metaphors, we unpack this oceanic metaphor to better understand what it means and why it’s proving so useful right now.
READ MORE

Words related to surface wave

tsunami, eagre, seiche

Words nearby surface wave

surface of revolution, surface plate, surface road, surface structure, surface tension, surface wave, surface-active, surface-active agent, surface-printing, surface-ripened, surface-tension theory of narcosis
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Science definitions for surface wave

surface wave

A seismic wave that travels across the surface of the Earth as opposed to through it. Surface waves usually have larger amplitudes and longer wavelengths than body waves, and they travel more slowly than body waves do. Love waves and Rayleigh waves are kinds of surface waves. Compare body wave. See Note at earthquake.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.